IOWA CITY — The committee leading efforts to pass a $30 million conservation bond in Johnson County remain confident voters will approve the measure Nov. 5, despite two of the county’s top conservation officials being placed on administrative leave.
The Johnson County Conservation Board placed Conservation Director Larry Gullett and Operations Superintendent Wade Schultz on paid administrative leave in early June for unspecified reasons and for an unknown period of time.
The Our Land Our Water Our Future committee is leading the bond support efforts. The bonds would be used to protect water quality and natural areas and to acquire land for parks and trails.
The bonds, which would be repaid with property taxes, require 60 percent approval to pass.
In 2008, 61 percent of Johnson County voters OK’d a $20 million conservation bond, the first of its kind in the state
“We are confident the administrative leaves have nothing to do with the passage of the 2008 conservation bond and/or our efforts with the proposed $30 million conservation bond that will be on the ballot in November,” Pat Heiden, committee co-chair and former Johnson County supervisor, said in an email.
Heiden said the administrative leaves have not affected the committee’s campaign strategy, with public education about the impact of the 2008 bond remaining at the forefront.
Funds from the 2008 bond have been used to acquire 1,168 acres of land for public use, created more than 9 miles of hard-surface trails and contributed to 15 projects, including the Pechman Creek Delta, Clear Creek Trail, Kent Park improvements, Hoover Trail, Malinda Reif Reilly Fen and Prairie, and the Sutliff Bridge access.
No updates or timelines are available on the status of Gullett and Schultz, according to Carolyn Buckingham, president of the Johnson County Conservation Board, who said the administrative leaves are a “confidential personnel matter.”
Neither Gullett nor Schultz returned The Gazette’s request for comment.
Gullet, the conservation department director, is paid $163,388 annually, making him one of the top 10 highest paid county officials, according to county staff.
The Johnson County Conservation Board has five members appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The conservation board is in charge of planning and policies related to county property used for public recreation.
Johnson County supervisors in late July approved placing the conservation measure on the November ballot.
Heiden said the referendum language includes the requirement that all bond expenditures will be “subject to an annual independent audit.”
“We take public trust very seriously,” she said.
The bond referendum language also estimates paying back the bonds will require an estimated property tax increase of $7.09 per year on a home with “an actual valuation” of $100,000.
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